Military Micro Air Drones

The Micro Air Vehicles unit of the US Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson AFB is developing small military drones, with the goal of making them so small that they resemble small birds and insects, including some that will have moving wings. Photo: Reuters

The engineers are using a variety of small helicopters and drones in the lab to develop the programs and software. Photo: Reuters

A computer controlled US Air Force drone during a test flight. Photo: Reuters

Micro Air Vehicle team leader, observe a test flight of a US Air Force drone. Photo: Reuters

A model of an insect size U.S. Air Force drone is held by a member of the Micro Air Vehicles team of the Air Force Research Laboratory. Photo: Reuters

Three types of small test drones are shown at the U.S. Air Force Micro Air Vehicles lab of the Air Force Research Laboratory. Photo: Reuters

An engineer prepares a computer controlled US Air Force drone for testing in the Micro Air Vehicles lab. Photo: Reuters

Testing takes place in a controlled indoor lab where the team flies the MAVs and then gathers data to analyze for further development. Photo: Reuters

The mission is to develop MAVs that can find, track and target adversaries while operating in complex urban environments. Photo: Reuters

The logo on the wall at the U.S. Air Force Micro Air Vehicles lab at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Photo: Reuters